University of Hawai'i opposite Jonas Umlauft was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation's Freshman of the Year as selected by the league's 12 men's volleyball head coaches. In addition, Umlauft was selected to the all-conference second team while outside hitter Joshua Walker was named to the third team and setter Nejc Zemljak was an honorable mention.

 

Umlauft, a native of Stadtbergen, Germany, becomes the school's third MPSF Freshman of the Year, joining setter Yuval Katz (1995) and Kimo Tuyay (2001). Stanford outside hitter Brad Lawson was Player of the Year and Stanford's John Kosty was Coach of the Year.

 

Umlauft was a three-time MPSF Player of the Week this season. In MPSF matches, he led the conference in kills (5.30 K/S) and points (5.94 P/S), and set the school's rally-scoring record with 37 kills in the first of two five-set wins over UC Irvine. Umlauft recorded double-figure kills in all 27 matches, including twelve 20-plus kill outings. He also ended the regular season with seven 20-kill matches in the last nine contests.

 

Umlauft averaged 1.40 digs and 0.76 blocks per set in his first year, hitting .281 in conference play, while starting all 22 matches and playing all 83 sets.

 

Walker, a junior from Virginia Beach, Va., averaged 4.28 kills in MPSF matches while hitting .296. He also averaged 1.66 digs and 0.68 blocks per set in league matches. Earlier this season, Walker became the 12th player in UH history to record 1,000 career kills and currently has 1,040 over his three-year career. This season, Walker has 23 double figure kill matches and eight 20-kill matches, including a season-high 28 against Long Beach State (March 20).

 

Zemljak, a junior from Maribor, Slovenia, averaged 13.14 assists per set in his first season as a full-time starter. He also was among the league leaders in service aces (30) and averaged 2.00 digs and 0.54 blocks per set in MPSF action. Overall, he guided the Warriors to a .297 hitting percentage and 16.13 kills per set, the latter of which is tops in the MPSF. 

View All-MPSF teams.